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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26967433">Propensity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoestylinson/pseuds/zoestylinson'>zoestylinson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Direction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Agnsty, Gang, Gay, LGBT, LGBTQ, M/M, agnst, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, mlm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:27:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,409</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26967433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoestylinson/pseuds/zoestylinson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"There surely is in human nature an inherent propensity to extract all the good out of all the evil."-Benjamin Haydon</p><p>In which Harry is a gang leader and Louis is a Uni Student</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore," Rumi. </p><p>I thought I knew what to ignore, who to ignore, until I found myself incapable of ignoring it. Ignoring him. With all the musty old books stacked up in the corners of my small Uni apartment, you would think I knew everything I need to know about the world, and I thought I did too. Reading stories isn't the same as experiencing your own. Knowing how to do Calculus isn't going to save you in a fight. History isn't going to tell you what to expect. If there's one thing I've learned, its to never push away the things that keep coming back, cause there's a reason they are there.</p><p>The thing is, he kept coming back, he was drawn to me. And I was drawn to him, no matter how much I wanted to ignore it. I think that's why our relationship worked so perfectly. We questioned each other until we knew everything about the other, we wanted to be a constant in the others life. </p><p>Honestly, when I first met him, I hated his guts. He was narcissistic, overly ambitious, a perfect guy that everyone wanted a piece of. I tried to convince myself I wasn't like the others. I wasn't going to fall down and kiss his feet until he took me, showed me paradise, and threw me out. I didn't trust myself when I started looking at him longer than I should have, I pushed him away because I was scared of myself. </p><p>He didn't like that. He didn't understand why I didn't want to cling onto him like he was my lifeline. He was curious why I pushed him away when he was so used to drunken bodies crowding and touching every piece of him at parties. </p><p>Still, he drew me in. The more I pushed him away, the more it became apparent he was going to be an essential part of my life, whether I liked it or not. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted me for more than a toy. I didn't trust his eyes then. They were dark and hazy, showing almost no emotion. Luckily I took a chance.</p><p>He showed me the world, which ended up being him. Told me his fears, hopes, dreams. Sometimes I mused this was how he pulled everyone in. When he didn't reject me once he got what he wanted, I was shocked. People warned me about him when we first got together.</p><p>"He doesn't love"</p><p>"He just wants you for your body"</p><p>"He will push you away the second you get attached"</p><p>They all told me the same thing. It scared me. It made me question if I should leave him before he left me. I tried so many times to push him away but his emerald green eyes always pleaded louder than he ever could, and it dragged me back to his door. </p><p>He lived in a garage with his friends, or gang members as he would say. When I first met him I thought he was childish for being in a gang, but I soon found out it was even worse than the stories described it. Gang life was full of murder, stealing, blackmail, and drugs. Lots of drugs. The garage they lived in wasn't small, it was gigantic. Like an old car shop. They set up a kitchen, living space, and even bedrooms in the second floor loft. It always smelled of the weed they smoked in the living room, and they smelled of stolen cologne mixed with cigarettes. When you walked in, you could feel the memories, both happy and sad they shared in there. It was their home. And it once was mine too.</p><p>+-+-+</p><p>"Lou?" His voice called from down the hall.</p><p>"Yes love?" I answered.</p><p>"Dinner's ready boo!"</p><p>"I'll be there in a minute Harry" </p><p>I closed my old, cracking, leather bound diary and walked slowly down the stairs, careful not to trip.</p><p> </p><p>Author's Note:</p><p>I'm not usually going to include these, but I thought It was important for the first part. This is a ten part short story where Harry is in a gang and Louis is a uni student. </p><p>This story is going to be told from Louis' POV when he is old (much like the notebook without the dementia and death) I will try to make it as clear as possible when it switches from the story to present day (which won't be a lot) It will sound like he is telling the story, he is writing it down in his diary. I am hoping every chapter is around 2-3 thousand words because in my last book the chapters were so short it annoyed me. Also, another fun little thing is that I am going to put a quote that goes with the chapter in the beginning!</p><p>TPWK!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Thinking will not overcome fear but action will." W. Clement Stone</p><p>I still remember that day, August 23rd, like it was yesterday. The smell of the grease from the McDonalds kitchen, the kids screaming in the playground, the fear in my gut when I looked up at him. </p><p>I was silently standing next to the counter when they called out my order number, "Number 28!" </p><p>I slowly walked up to the counter and took my food, mumbling a "thank you" as I turned around. I looked down at my phone to see the time, realizing I had a class in 20 minutes. I started to speed up, then I hit something tall and hard.</p><p>"Oops."</p><p>"Watch where your going, fuckface," he muttered.</p><p>I slowly looked up to see long brown hair and hazy green eyes. He was beautiful, I thought. Then I realized who I was thinking about. "Yo-you're-"</p><p>"I know who I am," He said affirmingly, "Now, are you going to get out of the way?"</p><p>"Yeah," I stutter out. I knew who he was, I recognized him from the paper. He was the drug dealer, the gang leader. I quickly walked around him without looking back, on my way to the glass door.</p><p>I could feel his gaze on me, though. I could feel his emerald green eyes burning into my back. As I sped up I thought I would be free of him, but his gaze lingered. While turning around cautiously, I thought, I better not be his next kill, and turned to look in his eyes. I could almost see a hint of surprise in his face before I gave him a tight smile and a small nod before closing the door. </p><p>I took a deep breath before rushing off to my next class, with only fifteen minutes to drive halfway across the city.</p><p>Abruptly, I ran through the door into the musty drab English classroom, sweating with my hair tossed around in a hurried rush, much unlike itself before I left my dorm.</p><p>"Mr. Tomlinson, fancy seeing you here," The professor stated dryly before turning back to the class, who all happened to be staring at me. I looked down at my old black Nike's before I walked to the back of the class to sit down. This is going to be a long day.</p><p>When I exited my class, much to my gratification, Niall called my name from the end of the dreary, gray, cramped halls of the English department. Niall, my best friend. Niall was rambunctious, affirmative, and clamorous. He was the light everyone looked up at in admiration. At parties, he was there dancing on tabletops, screaming every lyric to every song with a crowd of hands and bodies moving around him like he was a pop star. He was always elated about anything and everything, and always supported you fully. In all, he was the most outstanding friend I could ask for.</p><p>I waved back in a ferocious manner, wanting to get away from that stupid class. I was never good in school. I have smarts in different areas though, like the biggest celebrity scandal of the week-usually something about the Kardashians-or how to properly tend to a garden. </p><p>"Mate!" Niall hollered towards me all the while saying hey's or how are you's? To everyone who speaks to him (which is almost everyone).</p><p>I met up with him in the middle of the hall and together we fought through the sea of people to our lockers, which were conveniently fixated next to each other.</p><p>"Louis, mate, how was class?" He asks rhetorically-knowing it was terrible already-he continues, "Why were you late?"</p><p>"I was held up at McDonalds," I reply simply, not wanting him to know about my encounter, which wasn't important anyways.</p><p>"Damn, must've been a big line," He replies absentmindedly while grabbing a few books from the metal locker.</p><p>"You could say that," I muttered, before slamming my locker door and Niall's following automatically.</p><p>We walked together to our next class, maths, me being quiet and trying to remember a formula and Niall waving to his friends with a big grin on his face. </p><p>+-+-+</p><p>Niall and I stepped out of the big glass doors surrounded by a few of our close friends. I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, although I wasn't actually paying attention to it. </p><p>"Holy shit, LOUIS!" Niall screamed at me before I felt his cold hands on my arms. When I looked up I saw the parking lot right in front of me, and when studying my feet I saw myself on the edge of the sidewalk, about to step into the middle of the road. </p><p>"Oh god, I guess I spaced out," I said in a slight panic from overthinking the tragic thought of my own death.</p><p>"Watch where you're going next time, okay mate?" Niall said insistently. I nodded vigorously before we both turned around and went back to our friends.</p><p>"So, Lou, you coming to mine to study tonight?" One of our friends, Luke, asked.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah," I reassured, even though I was quite tired and wanted a night in.</p><p>"K, see you at 6 then?" He confirmed. I nodded and they began talking amongst themselves while I dreamt of curling up in my bed all alone with a candle and Netflix, even though I knew I needed to study. Soon enough we agreed to disperse, so I waved a goodbye to them all and walking toward my old blue Subaru. </p><p>Once I sat down in the drivers seat and closed the door, I pulled out my phone to check Twitter before I started the shirt drive to my dorm. When I looked at my locked phone screen, there was a text. I unlocked my phone quickly and went to Messages.</p><p>"Are you Louis Tomlinson?"</p><p>Odd. </p><p>I started to become paranoid before assuming it was someone from my class and replied, "Yeah, who's this?"</p><p>I locked my cell and tossed it onto the passenger seat before turning my keys and speeding off.</p><p>My dorm wasn't anything special. Outdated tan walls, fluorescent lights, a gray, slightly stained carpet. Much like a normal person my age would have. It had one bedroom, one bathroom, a small kitchen with everything necessary (though I never used it) and a living room, occupied by a brown loveseat and a small wooden coffee table. My bedroom had a full sized bed on a cheap bed frame that looked as if it was about to break, a yellow tinted overhead light, and a small closet built into the wall with all of my clothes and shoes. It was big enough to live in, just big enough. Upon entering, I dropped my backpack to the floor, closed the door, and walked to the fridge. I pulled out a yogurt before sitting on a barstool next to the small island. </p><p>I took out my school-issued laptop and began online shopping, although I knew I couldn't afford any of it. Once I finished my yogurt I threw my cup into the garbage and walked to my bedroom, appeased of starting my homework. </p><p>At 5:30 I received a text from Niall as a reminder that we were studying, "Mate, get to the library soon, its boring as shit."</p><p>When I exited out from the text, I saw another text from the unknown number, simply reading, "H.S" and I knew who it was.</p><p>Harry Styles. He has my number. How the fuck did he get it?</p><p>I could feel a tint of anxiety tightening in my chest before I suppressed it and walked out the door to my car, deciding to not answer. </p><p>+-+-+</p><p>When I walked through the exquisitely large wooden library doors, the group greeted me quietly. The library closed at eight, so we had two hours to study together. I could see Niall not so sneakily eating a Snickers while he followed along to Luke reading the History textbook. I walked through a few aisles of musty old books sat on grand oak shelves before arriving at the table they were gathered around. I sat next to our friend Regan, who seems unusually skittish. </p><p>I sat bored for most of the two hours, occasionally I opened a textbook, attempted to help my friends (although I was no help, I would never admit that publicly), and checked Instagram every 12 minutes, even though nothing new happened the whole treacherous two hours. I watched Niall attempt to sneak various snacks into his and others mouths, each time earned a glare from the middle-aged librarian. At least a few of us studied, which almost inspired me to do the same.</p><p>When people started to disperse from the surrounding tables, I knew it must have been almost eight o'clock. I checked my phone to see the time, 7:45, and saw I got another text from him. </p><p>"Meet me at your school at 11. H"</p><p>I was slightly shocked at his promptness. Why would he want to meet me? He didn't seem to keen to be in my (glorious) presence at the McDonalds this morning, but still, I was curious. Seeing as it was only eight, I still had almost three hours to contemplate my options. When I looked up from my phone I saw my friends beginning to pack their belongings up, so I did the same.</p><p>I was pacing in my cramped living room while looking at the time every five seconds, waiting to leave with adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream. Surely he was going to kill me. But why would he? I had done nothing so terrible as to lose my life, I only bumped into him for Christ's sake. It was currently 9:47, so I decided to eat away my anxiety with a slice of leftover Pizza from last night. I sat down on my old couch with slightly soggy microwaved pizza while the news played in the background. </p><p>Soon enough, I knew it was time I had to go, if I wanted to be on time at least. I wanted to go, I truly did, but something was holding me back. Although I was so curious as to what he wanted, I knew he was dangerous and it wasn't a good idea.</p><p>So, I swiftly grabbed my cars keys a skipped out the door.</p><p>As the car warmed itself up with a quieting groaning noise, I thought about what he could want. I spent three hours thinking about whether or not I should go, but I didn't think about what he could want. I knew what he was about, he sold drugs. Maybe he needed a witness for a deal or something. Maybe he needed a person to shoot in case he starts to rage. </p><p>I drove out of the parking garage, my car lights guiding the way down the road to my school. I always liked driving more at night. When I rolled the windows down I could smell a slight humidity mixed with nature and the smell of an old city. The buildings lining the streets almost looked antique with the brown color scheme and orange lights warmly flowing from their windows. </p><p>With five minutes to spare, I arrived in the school parking lot. I hope this is the right place. I was far to scared to text him, so I sat in the front seat of my rattling old Subaru hoping this wouldn't be my last night.</p><p>My phone vibrated to notify me of a new text, it was from him. It read "Come out of the car." So that's what I did.</p><p>When I opened the door I heard faint footsteps coming towards me. It was far too dark to see anything (or anybody, for that matter) but I knew he was coming towards me. I closed the door and slowly walked forward, trying to look confident although I couldn't get the thought of being killed out of my head. Then, I saw a person standing under a streetlight, a smirk on his face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Love, in short is the most dangerous emotion a human can experience" Virginia C Andrews.</p>
<p>That night I saw the stars, the sky, smiles mixed with green eyes, adventure, and amusement. But I also saw dirty money, crippling men shaking under the silver glow of a gun, and crimson pools forming under still warm bodies turning pale.</p>
<p>+-+-+</p>
<p>"Louis Tomlinson," a deep raspy voice uttered.</p>
<p>I squinted at his figure, barely seeing his facial features,"Yeah?" I stuttered, unsure of what was going to happen.</p>
<p>"Come here," He ordered. I could tell he was used to being obeyed, he talked like it. He hadn't looked at me, maybe not wanting to see my face before he shot me. </p>
<p>I walked closer to him, his hard features slowly showing themselves through the light fog. Once I was about five feet away from him, I paused, "Why am I here?" I questioned, hoping he wouldn't be upset.</p>
<p>"I'm taking you with me," he paused, "On an adventure."</p>
<p>For the first time, he looked straight at me and I could see his eyes shining in the moonlight. A rush of adrenaline traveled through my body as he took a few steps closer, his long strides pulling him mere inches away from my face. I could feel his hot breath before he grabbed my hand, whispered, "Lets go," and dragged me away to his car.</p>
<p>"Are you going to tell me where you're taking me?" I asked once he let me in the passenger seat of his car, a bit more sassily than expected.</p>
<p>"That," he swallowed, "Is confidential."</p>
<p>He reached for the stereo, pushed a button, and turned a knob until the faint sound of an old rock band seeped through the speakers. Their words were illegible, but the obscure sound of the guitar was pleasant.</p>
<p>With that, I remained quiet until the car eventually slowed to a stop. He turned the key, pulled it out, and opened his door. After he flashed a quick glance at me with no expression, he reached behind him and hastily pulled a silver object from a duffle bag.</p>
<p>"Lets do this," Harry whispered, more to himself than me. He left the car and slammed the door as I opened mine, following him. Then, he fixed his expression on the house in front of  us, so naturally, I assumed that's where we were going.</p>
<p>"What are we doing here?" I blurted out, even though he probably wouldn't give me an answer.</p>
<p>Though, after a second, he does, "We are picking up money," He said dryly.</p>
<p>Harry walked up the concrete stairs with me following behind, and ringed the old metal doorbell. The house wasn't  particularly nice, but it wasn't a total wasteland, the person had enough money to buy drugs, after all. It had a wood exterior with an old door and outdated, dusty windows. The roof had started to grow moss along the edges, and there was a few shadows of old oak trees shading the dry lawn. Next to the door there was a dusty light surrounded by small moths and bugs, swarming to come close to the light.</p>
<p>Suddenly, the door opened with a jolt and a balding, middle aged man looked straight at Harry, his eyes widened. "Oh my-" he starts.</p>
<p>"I need the money, now," Harry interrupted, clearly not looking for any excuses.</p>
<p>"Ok, um j-just a second," The man stuttered before turning around and out of sight. From the sound of his voice, I assumed he didn't have the money he owed. </p>
<p>Before I had time to imagine what could happen to him, Harry aggressively bursted through his door and questions, "Where is it?"</p>
<p>"I-"</p>
<p>"You don't have it do you?" He said with warning. Harry's hand went to his back pocket and retrieved the shining metal object, discreetly holding it in his hand.</p>
<p>"Please, sir, I have most of it, and you can have my valuables, just don't shoot," The man pleaded, his eyes quickly becoming wet.</p>
<p>Harry raised the gun and aimed it at the mans head, "You said you would have the money," He muttered.</p>
<p>Harry pulled the trigger and the body crippled to the floor. I ran over to the man out of instinct before kneeling beside him. Blood filled the hole in his head, draping across his slightly paled face. His eyes were still wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling. I turned back to Harry, who had now stalked around to search for anything worth taking.</p>
<p>"How could you do this?" I almost yelled at him, blatantly horrified.</p>
<p>"You need to be quiet, people could hear you," he answered.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, like they didn't hear the gunshot," I said sarcastically, with panic underlining my tone. </p>
<p>"Exactly, we need to go," Harry concluded before stalking out of the door. </p>
<p>I ran after him, a few stray tears flew off my face out of fear and sympathy for the man. I knew this was how gangs work, but I didn't know someone could be so heartless.</p>
<p>When we came back outside to his car, neither of us said anything, and it remained that way the whole ride to wherever he was taking me. I sat there trying not to cry to hard, with my head leaned against the cold glass window. Harry kept his eyes straight on the road, never glancing in my direction. After minutes, what seemed like hours of a straining silence, he muttered, "We're here."</p>
<p>I allowed myself out of the car sulkily, and slammed the door shut behind me. Harry walked around the car and to my side, before saying, "Welcome to the park, Louis"</p>
<p>I looked up to see he wasn't lying, I saw the wrought iron gate and metal sign above that read, "Victoria Park"</p>
<p>"We can't go here, there's going to be countless security guards!" I whisper yell at him, looking around to see any moving figures.</p>
<p>"It's fine, I'm sneaky," He chuckles, clearly amused with how nervous I am to break the rules. After that, he flawlessly walked up to the gates, grabbed the horizontal part near the top, and swung his leg around to the other side, carefully avoiding the spikes. He gracefully hopped down the other side, making it look easy.</p>
<p>"Come on Louis, its not that hard," he said after he landed the jump off the gate.</p>
<p>"I can't do it Harry."</p>
<p>"I'll catch you."</p>
<p>I reluctantly walked up to the gate and looked at harry looking at me. With a deep breath, I hoisted my body up and grabbed the same bar Harry had grabbed. I tried to pull myself, but failed. "I can't do this," I muttered, and jumped off  gate.</p>
<p>Harry climbed back around to the side I was on, and smiled slightly before he said, "I'll help you," I looked at him one more time before walking back up to the gate, regretting to come on this "adventure" with him.</p>
<p>I pulled myself to the point I gave up at, and tried to pull myself up again, but this time, Harry pushed my feet up so I easily got my legs around the iron gate. When I looked down, it seemed too high up for me to land, so I waited for Harry to come and help me again.</p>
<p>He looked up and saw that I was sitting at the top, so he asked, "Why don't you jump down?" And I sheepishly replied:</p>
<p>"It's too high."</p>
<p>I could faintly hear him laugh before he quickly came an sat on the gate with me. Then he jumped to the bottom and stuck his arms out towards me. "I'm ready to catch you, Louis," He said with a hint of amusement in his face before I jumped into his arms. Luckily, he caught me seemingly easily (although I'm not sure about that anymore).</p>
<p>When he clumsily put me down, I looked around and saw the silhouettes of the ancient willow trees, a seemingly haunted playground, which I could still smell from my childhood, and a few security guards, mindlessly strolling around, trying to keep out intruders like us. I looked towards Harry, and watched him scan the landscape in front of us, probably trying to come up with a plan. </p>
<p>A few moments later, Harry met my eyes and mouthed, "Follow me," before taking off. We quietly jogged through the park, trying to stay near trees in case we needed cover. The security cards were walking around the edges of the park, shining their flashlights across the field and through the trees, almost hitting us in the process. We quickly sprinted towards the gothic fountain near the middle of the park. </p>
<p>"Harry we are going to get caught," I scold.</p>
<p>"And what happens if we do?" He asked.</p>
<p>I thought for a second before I whispered, "run," and right on que, a guard shined their flashlight right into our glistening eyes.</p>
<p>I saw him mutter something into a radio attached to his vest before he started sprinting right towards us, and others followed close behind. Harry grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the nearest fence while trying to avoid the guards that were closing in on us.</p>
<p>"We need to jump the fence!" He panted out as we neared the giant wrought iron fence. </p>
<p>"We can't Harry, it's too high!" I yelled back at him. <br/>Then he grabbed my waist, pulled me around so I was facing him and whispered in my ear, "Trust me," So I did.</p>
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